Nathaniel Holcomb - A Clue, 1796

  © Kathy Duncan, 2026

My furthest back Holcomb ancestor is Nathaniel Holcomb, who first appears in the records of Ste Genevieve County, Missouri, in 1805 when he was named in a lawsuit. The problem is trying to track him backward out of Missouri. 

All of Nathaniel's children except one seem to have been born in Missouri. His eldest daughter, Esther Holcomb, seems to have been born elsewhere, and that may be the key to discovering where Nathaniel had been before he came to Missouri.

The 1850 census of Jasper County, Missouri, provides the information that Esther (Holcomb) Jameson was born in Tennessee in about 1796. Even though Esther was the head of the household, there is no way to know if she provided that information or if it was provided by one of her children or a neighbor. 

By 1880, only three of Esther's children were still living. In that year, her daughter Phoebe Caroline (Jameson) McNeill's census record stated that both of her parents had been born in Virginia. Her sister Margaret (Jameson) Pool's census record stated that her father was born in Kentucky and her mother in Missouri. The other living child, Jasper N. Jameson, has not been located in 1880. 

By 1900, only Jasper N. Jameson was still living, but not found on the census. In 1920, Jasper's census record stated that his father was born in Virginia and his mother in Missouri. 

That's a lot of conflicting information. My gut says to trust the census that was taken during Esther's lifetime, but I know from experience that it may not be reliable either. If Esther was born in Tennessee, then Nathaniel Holcomb and his wife were also in Tennessee.

Can a Nathaniel Holcomb be found in Tennessee in the 1790s? Tennessee was created from North Carolina in 1796, so that narrows down the window for a search. We know that Nathaniel Holcomb and family were in Missouri by about 1799 when Enoch Holcomb was born. Using Family Search's full-text search, a Nathaniel Holcomb can be found witnessing a deed in Tennessee in the 1790s. On 9 April 1796, Eli Strickland of "Tennessee County of the Territory of the United States" sold a piece of land to William Milcherson, who was also of "Tennessee County." Eli Strickland sold the land through a power of attorney with Nathaniel Holcomb as a witness to that power of attorney.  The deed is located in the Montgomery County, Tennessee, records, but the land itself seems to have been next door in Robertson County. Prior to statehood, that region was known as "Tennessee County." After statehood, that area was divided into Montgomery and Robertson Counties. Eli Strickland had purchased his Tennessee land as early as 1793. That purchase is filed in Robertson County, Tennessee, but there is no mention of Nathaniel Holcomb in that earlier transaction   

In theory, records for Tennessee County are kept in Robertson County, Tennessee. However, Eli Strickland's land sale, witnessed by Nathaniel Holcomb, is kept in Montgomery County, Tennessee, Record Book A, p. 1.

The Strickland name, of course, is part of Nathaniel Holcomb's FAN group. Titus Strickland of Ste. Genevieve County was the guardian of Nathaniel Holcomb's children after Nathaniel died. There was an Eli Strickland in Ste. Genevieve County during the time period that Nathaniel Holcomb was there. Was he the same Eli Strickland? Eli Strickland, like the Holcombs, was also in Plattin Twp. in Jefferson County, Missouri. 

None of this is conclusive, but it is a clue. If the two Eli Stricklands could be proven to be the same person, then this would be stronger evidence that Nathaniel Holcomb was also in Tennessee County in the 1790s. 

Bright Jernigan's Tombstone

 © Kathy Duncan, 2026

Here is a long overdue update to Bright Jernigan's Tombstone and Grave.

The Heritage Center sent me a photograph of Bright Jernigan's tombstone. It is lovely and shows no erosion. 

The epitaph reads: "Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble."

Lawrence Williams' Obituary, 1836

 ©  Kathy Duncan, 2026

When my 2x great-grandmother, Eliza (Thompson) Kelley, applied for enrollment to the Baker Roll - Eastern Band of Cherokee, she stated that her maternal grandparents were Lawrence and Rachel (Hogan) Williams of Kershaw County, South Carolina. So far, my searches have placed Lawrence Williams in Kershaw County as early as the 1800 census. His life prior to that has been a mystery.

Recently, I found Lawrence Williams' obituary by using one of the experiments on Family Search called My Heritage Matches. Their experiment tip is this: from the individual's profile page on FamilySearch, click on the My Heritage button under Research Help. Most matches can only be seen if you also have a My Heritage subscription. Although I don't have a subscription, I tested it with Lawrence Williams anyway. Mostly, I could only see links to trees that included him, but with a lot of blurred-out fields. However, one result was from a newspaper database called OldTrees.com. I could see enough of the transcribed blurb to know that it was an obituary. The link provided me with the newspaper, the Camden Journal, and a date of September 3, 1836. 

I happen to have access to that newspaper through three other databases, but none of them could find Lawrence Williams' obituary through their search engines. With some noodling, I was able to pull up the September 3, 1836, issue of the Camden Journal and find Lawrence Williams' obituary by examining each of the four pages in the issue:

This is a lot of ink to wade through to glean a few important pieces of information about Lawrence Williams:

"...the remains of Lawrence Williams. This venerable man was a native of North Carolina; but for many years a resident of this District, in which he was well known and generally esteemed for his mild, benevolent, and patriarchal character. At the commencement of the Revolutionary War, when quite a youth, he embraced the cause of Freedom; and served his time in a Lettre of Marque and Reprisal, until the vessel was taken by the enemy; and her crew made prisoners of war. On the cessation of hostilities, Mr. Williams engaged, for a livelihood, in the management of plantations, which business he followed through the rest of his life...According to his anxious wish, the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administered to him, on his sick bed...he ceased to be mortal on the 27th ult. and commenced the life eternal, in the 72d year of his age." 

I had estimated that, at the earliest, Lawrence Williams could have been born in 1764, which this obituary confirms. While it is good to know that he was born in North Carolina, this does not tell me where he was born or where else he might have lived in North Carolina. It's fascinating to learn that he was aboard a Letter of Marque during the Revolution. However, this does not tell me the name of the ship nor the name of his captain. It does not tell me where they were captured, nor which prison Lawrence was confined in. There is no specific date for his move to Kershaw District and no family information. Receiving the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper might be a clue to his religious affiliation. 

When the Revolution began, Lawrence Williams would have been twelve years old. That would make him a cabin boy or powder monkey if he actually went into service on a ship at the onset of the war. 

As usual, I have more questions than answers. In my search for clues, I've turned to Eric Jay Dolin's Rebels at Sea: Privateering in the American Revolution. I've learned that there were about 1,000 Letters of Marque during the Revolution and at least 11,000 men who served on them. They were not considered pirates during that time frame. 

I skipped to the chapter on prisons, like you do, and found that there was a Letter of Marque called Fair American that was constructed by the Wynn brothers on their plantation on the Chowan River in 1780. When nearly finished, it was taken downriver to Edenton to be fitted with eighteen cannons.  Edenton was the major port in North Carolina during the Revolution. The crew for the Fair American was supposedly recruited in Edenton. According to some reports, the Fair American took one prize before being captured on her maiden voyage. After only a couple of months at sea, the ship was captured, and the crew of about 54 was taken in two ships to Forton prison in England. There, they plotted their escape. They attempted to tunnel out, hiding the dirt in the ceiling. Their plan was detected when a tile fell on a guard stationed outside. The prisoners refused to reveal what they had done with all of the dirt from the tunnel and let the prison officials believe that they had eaten it. They were made to haul dirt back in and fill up the tunnel. Once that was done, they promptly began digging another tunnel in a different direction. They came up in a house cellar, bound and gagged the shrieking woman there, and made their escape. Most of them were recaptured and returned to the prison. 

This is a wonderful story to which I cannot link Lawrence Williams. American records about the crews of privateer ships are spotty. The English kept records of the ships they captured and the crews they imprisoned. Those records, however, are in England and have not been digitized. 

If Lawrence Williams was a member of the Fair American crew, he would have been 16 when it set sail in 1780. At the close of the Revolution, Lawrence would have been only 19.

After some relentless Google searching, I finally stopped searching for the Fair American and started looking for the British ship that captured her: HMS Vestal. After capturing the Fair American, the HMS Vestal added the prisoners to her crew list. The list turned up in the State Archives of North Carolina, which I ordered. Lawrence Williams' name is not on the list. 

Marriage of F.N.W. Burton and Lavinia Bembury Murfree, 1814

 ©  Kathy Duncan, 2026

While it might seem reasonable to guess where a couple married based on where their families traditionally lived, that can lead to errors. Always look for a source instead of blindly guessing!

An example is Lavinia Bembury Murfree. When her father Col Hardy Murfree, left Hertford County, North Carolina, and went west to Tennessee, he left Lavinia in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to be educated at the Moravian School. That would have been about 1802 when Lavinia was seven years old. By then, Hardy Murfree was a widower, his wife Sally (Brickell) Murfree having died in 1802. Lavinia remained at the Moravian school until she finished her education. Then she moved to Halifax County, North Carolina, where she lived in the home of her sister, Mary Moore Murfree, who married Isaac Hilliard, Jr.

Lavinia Bembury Murfree married Col. Francis Nash Williams Burton in Halifax County in 1814. 

One might have guessed that Lavinia and F. N. W. Burton had married in Granville County, North Carolina, where the Burton family had lived for many years, or that they married in Hertford County, North Carolina, where the Murfree family had lived for many years. One might even guess that they married in Rutherford County, Tennessee, where many of the Murfrees had migrated, or that they married in Forsyth County, North Carolina, where Lavinia had attended school for many years. At some point, I considered all of these possibilities. 

Instead, they married in the home of Lavinia's sister and brother-in-law in Halifax County, North Carolina.

Richard Owens' Wife, Elizabeth

      ©  Kathy Duncan, 2026

Unfortunately, sometimes it is easier to prove who a person is not rather than who they are.

Regrettably, this is the case with my ancestor Elizabeth, who was the wife of Richard Owens of Kershaw County, South. According to a family history, "Impressions of  My Father," written by her great-granddaughter, Rebecca (Gaskin) Eskridge, Elizabeth was born in 1800, married Richard Owens in 1818, and died at the age of 87, about 1887.

For many years, researchers, including myself, believed that Elizabeth was the daughter of William and Jane Hood because William's will named a daughter Elizabeth Owings, an earlier spelling of Owens. However, everything points to Elizabeth Hood being the wife of William G. Owens, Richard Owen's brother. 

William G. and Elizabeth (Hood) Owens removed to Pickens County, Alabama, along with many other residents of Kershaw County, South Carolina. 

Here is the "transcription" of William Hood's family bible, which appears online in conjunction with Pickens County, Alabama records:

"Hood Family Bible Records in possession of Miss Mary White, Aliceville, Alabama.

William Hood - born in Ireland May 19, 1750, died Kershaw County, South Carolina. He married about 1775 Jane Wiggins, born July 1757, died January 28, 1828. Both buried Old Bever Creek Presbyterian Church yard near Camden, South Carolina.

William Hood settled first in Lancaster County, PA. later moved to Kershaw District, South Carolina. He was a man of good repute and reared a large family of twelve children. His will is on file in Camden, South Carolina. The children were all born in South Carolina: John B. Hood (b. 11 Apr. 1776); William Hood (b. 12 Dec. 1778); Andrew Hood (b. 12 Feb, 1781); James Hood (b. 19 Feb. 1783); Sarah Hood (b. 30 Jun. 1785, d. Pickens Co., AL 25 Feb. 1867, married 22 Feb. 1810 to John Sommerville who was born in S.C. 14 Dec. 1780, d. 14 Aug. 1857 Pickens Co., AL. Both buried Old Oak Grove Presbyterian Churchyard near Aliceville, Pickens County, AL); Margaret Hood (b. 3 Nov. 1788); Jane Hood (b. 5 November 1789); Elizabeth Hood (b. 19 Mar 1792, married William Owens, he died age 52 yrs. 9 mo. 18 days); Mahala Hood (b. 19 Nov. 1794); Archibald Hood (b. 3 Apr. 1796, d. 25 Mar 1871 in Pickens Co., AL); Israel McD. Hood (b. 7 Nov. 1800); Samuel Hood (b. 8 Apr 1803, d. 22 Apr 1879)

The following persons are buried in Pickens Co., AL.: Samuel Wiggins Hood (b. SC 18 Apr 1803, d. Pickens Co., AL 22 Apr 1879) He married 1st., Eliza Jane, daughter of James Summerville of Liberty Hall, S.C. They were married 18 Feb. 1830, she was born 11 May 1807, died Pickens Co., AL Aug 1862. Married 2nd. Amanda Summerville, sister of the 1st. wife, she was born 10 Jul 1813. He married 3rd. Amanda Archibald.) Children by 1st. wife: William James Hood (died in infancy); Elizabeth Jane Hood (b. 5 Jul 1822, d. 13 Jul 1914 Pickens Co., AL. m. 22 Jun 1854 Pickens Co., AL to Thomas Jefferson Clark); Margaret A. Hood (b. 30 Apr 1836 d. 25 Jul 1852); Samuel Hood, Jr. (b. 1 Jan 1840 d. 1922, m. Mary Long, b. 1840 d. 1903. No children).

Children of Elizabeth Jane Hood and Thomas Jefferson Clark are as follows: Samuel Clark (m. Mamie Shaw, had son James); Rebecca Clark (m. William A. Hood. b. 22 Mar 1861, d. 19 Aug 1906); Jefferson B. Clark (b. 20 Sep 1868 d. 3 Sep 1906, single); Lillie Clark (m. James Windham)

Children of Lillie Clark and James Windham are listed as follows: Clara Windham (m. 1st. Sam Parker); Lillie Mae Windham (m. George Downer, they had Ida Mae Downer; Eva Maude Downer; George Downer; Laura E. Downer: William Hugh Downer; Betty Jane Downer); John Windham (m. Lulela Shelton); Laura Lee Windham (m. Span Shaw, had James and Helen Shaw.

Children of Lillie Mae Windham and George Downer are as follows: Ida Mae Downer (m. had 2 children) Eva Maude Downer (m. had 1 child) George Downer (m. Eleanor Ethridge had 2 children) Laura E. Downer; William Hugh Downer; Betty Jane Downer."

In looking at this transcription, I have to wonder how much of it was actually from the bible and how much was added by a family historian. The Records of Pickens County, Alabama makes it clear that the first two paragraphs are connected with the bible. This record makes it clear that William Hood's daughter married William Owens.

William G. Owens and Elizabeth lived in Pickens County, Alabama, where they both died and are buried in the Bethany Cemetery in Pickens County.

In 1850, the widow Elizabeth Owens was living in Pickens County with three of her children and her nephew, E. G. Hood. 

There is no doubt in my mind that William and Jane Hood's daughter, Elizabeth, was the wife of William G. Owens, son of Archibald and Elizabeth (McLean) Owings/Owens of Kershaw County, South Carolina. 

But who did Richard Owens marry? All we know for sure is that her name was Elizabeth, she was born in 1800 in South Carolina, married Richard in 1818, and died in about 1887. 

Back to the drawing board! 

 

 

James S. Piper Series - Dedication

     ©  Kathy Duncan, 2026

I would like to dedicate my James S. Piper series of ongoing posts to my first cousin, Lowell Lennon. He is the son of my mother's only sister. His Facebook post in the fall of 2023 about the Mexican War Veteran's medal that belonged to his ancestor, Capt. James S. Piper triggered me to poke into Piper's history once again, and this time I had much more success than I had ever had before. 

Lowell and I exchanged Facebook DMs and emails as information bubbled to the surface. He was able to answer questions for me about all things army. Along the way, life had several difficult turns and twists for us. Lowell's son, David Bush, was diagnosed with cancer and lost his life last spring. Lowell and his wife were devastated. Last year, Lowell's youngest brother and my youngest cousin was diagnosed with a rare cancer. He lost his battle last month. 

Yesterday, I attended Lowell's own celebration of life service. He lost his six-month battle with leukemia a week ago. He was laid to rest by his mother, father, and brother. Maybe not so strangely, he is very near my paternal grandparents. 

Lowell was the cousin who kept us giggling at the children's table during holiday meals. He was the older cousin who made the whole family beam with pride when he went off to West Point. Our grandmother had a newspaper clipping about it displayed under glass on the top of her coffee table, where no one could miss it. He was the cousin who came back with a Corvette and gave each of us a ride in it. 

When my father died in 2018, Lowell spoke at his memorial. He told stories that revealed how my cousins viewed my father. Lowell described my father as the uncle who could be counted on to bring an amazing gadget each visit: one year a reel-to-reel tape recorder, another year a Polaroid camera, and one year a bright red Chevrolet Corvair. I was deeply touched that he commemorated my father's life with laughter and love. When I thanked him for coming all the way from Pennsylvania to East Texas for the service, he put his hand on his chest and said, "Of course, he was my own uncle!"

At the time, it reminded me of people in the past who, when referring to their full-blooded relatives, used phrases like "my own sister," "my own brother," and "my own aunt." 

Bert Lowell Lennon was my own cousin, and he will be greatly missed. 

James S. Piper, Three Generations - 1871

    ©  Kathy Duncan, 2026

This is a mini-case study in why it pays off to research your ancestor's siblings. I know many researchers only focus on their direct line and ignore siblings. Siblings, however, frequently help break down "brick walls." This was the case in uncovering James S. Piper's parentage.

In an earlier post, I presented a letter that Capt. James S. Piper wrote from Monterey, Mexico, to his brother, Dr. John R. Piper, of Washington, DC. This is the only document I have found so far that links James S. Piper to any of his siblings. Meanwhile, I have found nothing that directly links him to either of his parents. 

Dr. John R. Piper of Washington, DC, was a homeopathic doctor. When he died in 1871, his obituary was brief, but loaded with information:

Dr. John R. Piper was the son of Philip Piper of Baltimore. That means that Capt. James S. Piper was also the son of Philip Piper. Philip Piper died in 1860, and his obituary was published in The Sun:

Philip Piper's obituary reveals that he was from Limerick, Ireland. It also reveals that he was one of the old Defenders of Baltimore. As is typical of the time, it does not reveal the name of his wife or children. Philip Piper's unnamed wife died twenty-seven years before he did, and her obituary appeared in the Baltimore papers:

A year before Philip Piper died, his unmarried daughter, Sarah E. Piper, died.

Almost ten years after Philip Piper's death, his youngest son, Frank A. Piper, died in California:

Twenty years after Philip Piper's death, his unmarried daughter, Catherine Piper, died.

Twenty-two years after Philip Piper's death, his grandson Horatio N. Piper died. Horatio N. Piper was the son of Capt. James S. Piper, so this obituary indirectly links James S. Piper to his father, Philip Piper.

Thirty-four years after Philip Piper's death, his unmarried daughter Mary Piper died.

Fifty-one years after his death, Philip Piper's last known surviving child, Elizabeth Piper, died. Unlike her siblings, her relationship to Philip Piper is not stated in her obituary. 

Capt. James S. Piper is the only child of Philip Piper's for whom I have not found an obituary. 

James S. Piper, 1845

Capt James S. Piper, 1846

Capt James S. Piper, 1847 - 1848

Capt James S. Piper, 1850 - 1855

Col James S. Piper, 1856

Lt. Col James S. Piper, 1858

James S. Piper, 1859 - 1860

Col. James S. Piper, 1861

Col. James S. Piper, 1862

Col. James S. Piper, 1863 Part One

Col. James S. Piper, 1863 Part Two

Col. James S. Piper, 1863 Part Three

Col. James S. Piper's Wife Elizabeth

Elizabeth (Powers) Piper, Plot Twist

James S Piper, 1864

James S Piper Goes to Philadelphia, 1876

William H. Piper, 1864 - 1871

William H. Piper, 1871 - 1873

Mary (O'Hara) Piper, 1866

James S. Piper, 1865 - 1869

James S. Piper, 1870 - 1874